Britain could cope with a cyber-attack, claim Lords

According to an EU Home Affairs sub-committee of peers, the UK is "well-placed" to cope with a large-scale cyber-attack.

The lords examined what'd happen if a group of cyber-criminals or a rogue state banded together to attack Britain's telecommunications infrastructure, and found that measures put in place by the surveillance service GCHQ had improved the UK's ability to prevent cyber-attack from disrupting the country too much.

They added that Britain is "leading the way" in terms of cyber-security within the EU. Last year, a simulated failure of the phone network took place, called "Operation White Noise". There are plans to recreate the simulation across the entirety of the EU, but it's been judged that many countries aren't ready for such a test.

However, a similar exercise could occur across the Atlantic. The group's report said: "We believe that the government and the EU should be giving greater attention to how cyber-security could be developed on a global basis".